India’s wholesale prices rose 1.81% year-on-year in January 2026, up from a 0.83% increase in December and above market expectations of a 1.25% rise. This was the fastest pace of growth since March 2025, largely driven by higher manufacturing inflation (2.86% vs 1.82% in December), with notable increases in textiles (2.48% vs 1.68%) and wearing apparel (2.08% vs 1.55%).
Food inflation also picked up, rising 1.41% after remaining flat in December. By contrast, fuel prices fell more sharply, dropping 4.01% year-on-year compared with a 2.31% decline in the previous month—the steepest fall since October 2024. This reflected continued deflation in LPG (-7.68% vs -14.04%), petrol (-4.58% vs -1.88%), and high-speed diesel (HSD) (-4.29% vs -2.07%).
On a monthly basis, wholesale prices increased 0.51%, unchanged from the prior month’s rate.
